


can't turn around

by akire_yta



Series: prompt ficlets [64]
Category: Bandom, Doctor Who
Genre: Gen, akificlets, companion!verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-16
Updated: 2013-08-16
Packaged: 2017-12-23 18:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/929436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akire_yta/pseuds/akire_yta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt: 5233 = spencer, companion verse - Can't Stop The World: Gavin Rossdale</p>
            </blockquote>





	can't turn around

Exhaustion became his default state. Spencer locked up memories of being safe and warm into a little box and buried it so deep that not even the satellites and their signal could touch it. He put one foot in front of the other, counting time not in days but in beats.

Some days, he walked from first light until he couldn't see the ground under his feet. Other days, he snuck around worker camps and told his story until his voice was shredded to ribbons. Some days he ran, putting his faith into the key around his neck.

One day he stood in the middle of the road, unable to take another step. He tipped his head back, eyes prickling with tears, and stared into the infinite blue. This was too big for him to carry. Why did he ever think he could do this? Why did he think Spencer was capable of it?

He didn't know what he was thinking. He'd been gone too long from reality, caught up in the whirlwind of the Doctor's life. And now he was here, sweating under the sun, alone and afraid.

He was afraid. He was afraid and exhausted and at the edge of his limits.

He opened the box in his mind, and turned over the memories like the precious, fragile gems they were. He remembered laughter, and music, and love. He remembered feeling warm and safe, pleasantly tired and going to bed, sleepy and comfortable. He remembered faces and names, and the world that broke when the Master came.

Spencer put the memories slowly back into the box. And then put one foot in front of the other. It was all he could do. He couldn't turn around. He could only keep going.


End file.
